318 



FORESTS 



FORESTS 



Fig. 438. 



Black locust (Boiinia 



Fseudacacia). 



Fig. 439. Honey locust 

 {Oleditschia triacanthos) . 



bounded by the Missisaippi basin on the west and 

 reaching south into Texas, once a large hard-wood 

 forest, often mixed with conifers which also some- 

 times occupy extensive 

 areas by themselves. (2) 

 The Pacific forest region 

 on the western moun- 

 tains, composed almost 

 exclusively of coniferous 

 growth, and (3) the prai- 

 ries and plains region, be- 

 tween the iirst and second 

 regions, bearing only scat- 

 tered tree growth, mainly 

 along the water courses. 

 If we add climatic and economic considerations, 

 many more subdivisions may be made, and certainly 

 not less than a dozen would fairly represent the 

 different conditions. 



Maine, perhaps the best 

 wooded state in the coun- 

 try, is still so much in the 

 woods that it stands by 

 itself ; but, taking the en- 

 tire New England states 

 as a group, we iind that 

 they are still one-half in 

 woodland, and, according 

 to the nature of the topog- 

 raphy and soil, must re- 

 main so for many years. 

 This is also the most densely populated section of 

 the country, and the farmer's woodlot, which is 

 usually within easy reach of a market, should 

 occupy an important position 

 and would pay well if properly 

 cared for, and if not merely 

 abandoned to eke out an exist- 

 ence. Coppice -growth and 

 white pine groves on abandoned 

 pastures and fields are the 

 characteristic features of the 

 woodlot area. 



Not very different are the 

 conditions in the Middle Atlan- 

 tic states, except that a much 

 larger area is and can be under 

 cultivation, more than one-half being now under 

 farm. Hard-woods, especially chestnut and oak, 

 are in preponderance. The easy reproduction of 

 the white pine, which is a striking feature on New 

 England farms, is not seen here. 

 The Southern Atlantic states 

 exhibit at least three different 

 topographic regions : the coast 

 region of sandy lowlands and 

 swamps, in which coniferous 

 growth prevails ; the foothill 

 region of mixed growth ; and the 

 mountain region in which hard- 

 woods are most prominent. These 

 states are still almost as exten- 

 sively wooded or else as unfit for 

 western cataipa agricultural use as Maine, but 

 iCataipaspeciosa). have Only one-third the popula- 



Fig. 440. 



Basswood (Tilia 



Americana). 



tion per square mile of the first two divisions, 

 hence, the woodlot question is probably rarely 

 raised. Abandoned or neglected fields grow up so 

 readily to wood that the forest constantly threat- 

 ens to regain its empire. 



Much the same conditions prevail in the Gulf 

 states, except that here the lower half is mostly 

 an extended, sandy, pine forest, the northern 

 uplands having hard-wood with pine intermixed. 

 Hardly 20 per cent is cultivated, and the popula- 

 tion is still very much less than in the Southern 

 Atlantic states. 



The central southern states, north of this group, 

 are much better developed, with over 35 per cent 

 under farm and a population as dense as in the 

 southern Atlantic states. The forest is mainly 

 hard-wood and is densest in the eastern mountain 

 region. 



The largest farm area is found in the three 

 states, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with over 70 per 

 cent of the land improved and a population which 

 rivals in density the New England states. Here is 

 another region in which proper management of the 

 woodlot would unquestionably pay, since scarcely 

 over 12 per cent is in forest, and the waste land 

 scarcely 18 per cent, most of which could probably 

 also be utilized for timber crops. These states are 

 almost devoid of coniferous growth. 



The lake states, which have supplied the bulk of 

 our lumber consumption for so many years, are 

 being rapidly exhausted of their coniferous growth, 

 although the extensive hard-wood areas will still 

 hold out for a generation. The southern parts are 

 sufficiently densely populated to make attention to 

 farm forestry worthy of consideration. 



Placing in one division, although climatic and 

 economic conditions are variable within it, the 

 great and practically forestless interior area of 

 approximately one million five hundred thousand 

 square miles, we have that part of the country in 

 which timber-planting has been long practiced, 

 where climatic amelioration 'is the main function 

 of the woodlots, and where there is endless oppor- 

 tunity for further extension and more rational 

 management. 



The Rocky mountain region is relatively scantily 

 wooded with short coniferous growth, improving 

 to the northward. Farmers and miners will some 

 day bemoan the destruction by fire which has so 

 uselessly wasted thousands of square miles. " 



The mountain regions of the Pacific coast states 

 are still so densely wooded with magnificent conif- 

 erous growth, that the practice of farm forestry 

 probably could not find lodgment even in the 

 agricultural valleys adjoining. But in southern 

 California there are forestless regions where the 

 woodlot, planted eucalyptus groves, has already 

 earned its well-appreciated position. 



Forests of Canada. 



The forest area of Canada, including the wood- 

 lands of the northern territories and of the prairies, 

 is estimated at approximately 1,250,000 square 

 miles, but the area in strictly commercially valu- 

 able wood probably does not now exceed 500,000 



